Grinding out a few on the cut

I made my final trip of 2013 down south to the midlands for a couple of days on the cut. The weather forecast was a mixed bag but it looked like I might miss the torrential rain and storms that were heading in the direction of Scotland.

I picked up where I pretty much finished off on my last trip but the snaggy  swim that produced the goods before was lifeless, after it claimed a couple of rigs  I had a walk and few cast towards a nearby road bridge. It was pretty bright by now so I flicked the lure along the shadow of the bridge and had a nice Perch take the lure pretty much where I expected the fish to be hanging out. After unhooking the fish I sat it in the net and let it rest in the canal while I got my camera. The fish however was camera shy and took the opportunity to find a new hole which appeared from somewhere and it was on its way back to its mates.

I picked this one up after making an on the bank temporary repair to my landing net, it’s about 15 years old so probably about time to replace it. I lost a small Zander shortly after that but after about 3 hours and a lot of walking I got the impression that fish weren’t around in numbers so made a move about 5 miles away.

The Perch were really tight to the wall between two boats and I managed three fish in quick succession before targeting a swim where I suspected there might still be some Zander stuck in a short stretch between two locks.

My hunch was right.

Both Zander really wanted the lure and long nose foreceps were required for both.

The next day I was on the canal for dawn after scraping the car windscreen following a severe overnight frost. With the canal being 30ft wide and no more than 4 feet deep anywhere I suspected that this might have an impact on the fishing. I didn’t however expect to be fishless 7 hours later but that’s how it went, brutal. I was glad to be off the water and heading back to Stef’s for some paella (also fishless as it happens) and a few beers.

The highlight of Sunday was this Kingfisher which I managed to get a poor quality shot using the zoom function. I dont spend a lot of time on inland waterways so it was nice to see one. The last time I came across this bird was near Saumur in France on the bank of the Loire the same day that Tyson bit Holyfields ear off, a long time ago in other words.

I wasn’t intending to fish the next day but I woke up early and noticed there was a lot of cloud cover and some rain so the temperature hadn’t fallen below zero overnight. I hit the canal for two hours before heading home.

One for the road and the double blank was off. This was the only offer on my short session.